Mediterranean forage resources and Pélardon cheese content of terpenes and fatty acids
2014
Agabriel, C | Ferlay, A | Buchin, S | Napoléone, M | Genevet, E | Marty, P. | Hulin, S | Martin, B
Pélardon is a goats’ milk PDO cheese produced in a Mediterranean area of southern France requiring a minimal use of rangelands. The aim of this work was to characterise the dominant strategies used by farmers to combine the use of natural resources provided by the region in order to feed the dairy goats and to define the links between these strategies and fatty acid and terpene composition of the cheeses. Thirty five cheeses were collected in spring and summer 2011 from 22 different farmhouse cheese-makers recruit- ed to cover the diversity of farmers’ feeding practices. The cheeses were analysed after 2 days’ ripening and the farmers’ feeding practices during the days prior to cheese-making were collected through an interview. Five main feeding strategies were defined according to the relative importance of rangeland and grassland grazing and the amount of hay and concentrates fed. These feeding strategies did not affect the cheese ter- pene content and composition whose main drivers are related to the botanical diversity of the rangelands and the grazing management of the goats by the shepherd. Cheese fatty acid composition varied mainly accord- ing to the importance of the grassland grazing and the supplementation with hay and concentrates. These results may help the farmer exploiting in an optimal way the diversity of the resources so that cheese char- acteristics reflect the richness of the “terroir” where they originate
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